In the second section of the reading, chapters 4-6, what significantly stood out to me was in regards to Chinese identity. Page 56 demonstrates this best, “Mandarin didn’t hyphenate a person’s compound identity as American English does. Frances was Chinese-American, but Mr. Li wasn’t Manchu-Chinese. He was Chinese, and a Manchu, in that order.” National identity above all else is a Chinese assertion many Americans would not subscribe to, as we value personal identity. It was eye opening for me to experience Chinese culture through Meyer to understand how Chinese, regardless of province or family name, view their national heritage.

The Willow Palisade was “a one thousand mile long barrier that started at the pass and wishboned deep into the Northeast. Made from soil and trees…divided Mongol, Manchu, and Han Chinese areas of the settlement, protected imperial hunting land and secured the court’s lucrative sable and ginseng trade” (p. 52-53). While searching for this wall, Meyer discovered that most people had never heard of it. Failed events in history were discarded as if it didn’t exist. Focus was given to events that brought liberation or painted them as successful. “No one cares about our Manchu history, after all” (p. 56). History is told from many perspectives and sources that on occasion it is difficult to see the whole picture from just one source. Many times, we don’t learn/teach the full facts. As teachers, we are required to teach a curriculum and cover certain standards in a specific time frame. This prevents us from incorporating and teaching all the perspectives and facts about a particular event/person. Whenever my students do research projects, I emphasize the importance of researching multiple sources. They are also required to get secondary and primary sources, if available.

Meyer describes Jilin as a sleepy metropolis made up of four million people. The word “sleepy” makes it seem as if the community has nothing eventful or lively going on, but the people don’t have social interaction. This is a completely different than the visual I get from reading the description from a century ago. At that point in history, it was a shipyard and trading post. That visual is lively. People would want to come to Jilin not only trade and buy the various goods (i.e furs, leathers, animal skins, carved wood, etc.) but socialize with other cultures and people. It was described as the “Kyoto of Manchuria”. Qingming is a poem written twelve hundred years ago. The part when Meyer and Frances were talking about his students translating the poem to English was funny because I can relate. Pronunciation of words is important. This skill is difficult when learning a new language.

Meyer, Michael. In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China. Bloomsbury Press, NY (2015).
edited by malvarenga on 6/11/2015

I found Meyer's description of his encounter with Dr. Liu at Eastern Fortune very interesting. First there's Liu Yandong, who founds Eastern Fortune, and Meyer feels like his rags to riches story is too good to be true until the detail about bargaining over the price of the business license. At that point Meyer recognizes Liu as a true Northeasterner.
Then there is Dr. Liu, who represents a different kind of no-nonsense Northeastern type. She learns from the ducks that there is such a thing as being too generous to your workers. Another strong blend of eyewitness, interview-based reporting and interpretation by selection of the telling detail.

The idea of personal history arises in chapter four. Farming has been the main livelihood of people in the region dating back to the Paleolithic, Neolithic and Bronze ages (P.46), but written documents weren’t started until the 7th century (P.6). It seems that historians and villagers remember time differently. For example, Meyer talks about the construction of a wall north of the Great Wall, the Willow Palisade. Historians recorded its existence, “the Manchu built a one-thousand-mile-long barrier… deep into the Northeast. Made from soil and trees” (P.52). However, the villagers in Wasteland did not know where it was even though Wasteland was within Manchu territory. After asking many people and taking some wrong turns, Meyer stumbled upon the only stone marker of where the palisade stood (P.61). History such as where the Manchu-Mongol border once stood did not hold much significance to people who seem to measure time by the seasons. It seems that the villagers live in the present, but are mindful of the past, so long as it relates to them or their livelihoods. There is a personal and practical sense to their history where more villagers know that the willow trees were cut down for firewood and the moat used for farming (P.56) than what the trees were a part of. I concluded the chapter pondering what was more important, preserving Manchu history or surviving frigid winters. Or rather than choosing, how could both goals be accomplished.
edited by jalves on 6/18/2015

Chapter 4

The illusive Willow Palisade was once a thousand mile long barrier made of soil and trees built by the Manchus to mark their territory. It was constructed of two berms of soil defining a moat and topped with willow trees lashed together with ropes. Emperor Qianlong said that it was not a, " Construction of walls that exhaust the people." Meyer learns that this famous barrier is almost forgotten in Manchuria, and barely acknowledged by the Chinese government. A historian too poor to own his own book, an old woman, a toppled marker, and a few rural farmers are left to remind the the world of its existence. Modern roads pass through what remains of ancient gates.
Wasteland is personal because it is personal connection that allows entree. Whether it is procuring a house, a cure for a cold, delving into local history, or finding a job everything requires acceptance through personal connection.
It is obvious that the cultural revolution and the pressures of modern life have limited the history of Manchuria to limited messages. Many Chinese immigrated to the region and have little interest in or connection to Manchu history. The cultural revolution wiped out any trace of a past that did not mesh with official party doctrine. Michael and Frances are amazed to find a Shrine to the Emperor of the Soil untouched by the destruction unleashed by the Red Guards on, "old customs, culture, habits, and ideas."
edited by karenrieger on 6/19/2015

Chapter 5

The house Meyer lives in with Ms. Guan's brother is a mixture of traditional and modern. This is why he refers to it as "straddling the 19th and 21st centuries." It is heated by rice stalks that fuel the kangs in the two rooms. The yard is a garden lauded for its onions. The kitchen was coated in soot and minimally equipped with a wok, a small refrigerator, a single propane burner, vinegar, soy sauce, and cabbages. Very traditional with a nod to modern conveniences. There was no indoor plumbing yet there was broadband internet and a VPN. Jilin, the site of Ms. Guan's new school, was transformed from a beautiful wooden city into one consumed by industrialization after the Japanese occupation. Chemical plants stand side by side with new apartment complexes.
Qingming is a national holiday with ancient traditions. It is a tomb sweeping festival, a way to remember and honor the dead. Wasteland has no tombs to sweep and Auntie Yi puts it very well when she says, "It does seem strange, not having any tombs around here. The dead just vanish." Frances and her mother and brother honor her father by taking his ashes "out for some air" in the warm sunshine. The family talked to him as if he were alive, lit a cigarette for him, prepared his favorite dishes, and burned paper money for him to use in the afterlife. All cultures find ways to preserve traditions from the past and it would be very interesting for my students to compare Chinese and American customs and holidays (Qingming/Memorial Day).
edited by karenrieger on 6/21/2015

I am rereading as we travel and seeing what I pick up on differently as we travel. The chapter Ruins and Resourcefulness, demonstrated examples of reimagining something with a different purpose. The temples he been made into police stations, and hotel room tv advertisements including personal ads and personal lonely heart ads. There was plenty of examples but I made a note of that while reading no it heightened my interest in that here, the way cardboard boxes are used as storage when traveling and paper for handles, tioilet paper for cleaning, and various other instances. Often times there are different, specific products sold $$$$ that we buy for different purposes. It made me think of how I could be more resourceful and make it into a product based project for students giving them a sales pitch and showing them pictures from the trip. A culture experience And a marketable skill.

It also is fascinating to see the into woven ways ethnicity is central in the way As in the nation, identity card. It made it such a focus and I couldn't imagine that being on my card. It brought up questions of what decision making led up to that and Have there been discussions to remove it. This is something that could easily be used in history classes and have students discuss the purpose nd what if it was made in their own location. What discussion points do student have about identity that would be essentialI. The section about verbal history.

What stood out to me in this section is Meyer's description of "mass incidents" (p. 83). According to Meyer, the Chinese government refers to protests as "mass incidents." In Ch. 6, San Jui gets his way because he is able to manipulate this system. It also seems that the Chinese government can also manipulate the media (i.e. first-hand experience of seeing a story on CNN blocked out) and manipulation of phrases. San Jui understood this system and used it to his advantage.